1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a swiveling work machine such as a backhoe.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a conventional machine of the above type, an engine is mounted at a rear portion of a swivel deck and a radiator is disposed on either right or left side of the engine. And, across and over these components, there is disposed a support frame which mounts therein an air cleaner and a muffler (see e.g. Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 11-81378).
There is also known a construction wherein a support frame having a rectangular shape in its plan view is mounted forwardly of an engine, the support frame supports an operator's seat and right and left implements controllers, and a canopy (an example of an “operator's seat protector”) is attached to a rear portion of the support frame (see e.g. Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 9-195316).
An operator's seat protector is known also from Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 8-184075, which comprises a four-post construction having four post portions disposed at front and rear portions of a frame of a swivel deck.
In the case of the Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 11-81378 mentioned first above, the support frame comprises a three-post construction having two front post portions and one rear post portion. This frame has only one beam at the fore and aft center thereof. Hence, this is not provided as a high-strength frame construction. In the case of the support frame known from the Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 9-195316 mentioned second above, the frame has four post portions and has a rectangular shape in its plan view. Hence, this is a frame construction sturdy enough to support the operator's seat and the right and left implement controllers. However, this construction does not contribute significantly to attaching strength of the operator's seat protector.
In the case of the Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 8-184075 method third above, the front and rear post portions of the four-post type operator's seat protector are affixed directly to the swivel deck frame, the rear post portions of the protector not being supported to any other support frame on the swivel deck.
That is, with these conventional techniques, in disposing the operator's seat protector in the vicinity of the engine in order to form the swivel deck compact, it is difficult to support the operator's seat protector with greater strength.
In view of the above, the present invention has been made to provide a swiveling work machine capable of solving the above-described problems of the conventional techniques.
Namely, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a swiveling work machine which is capable of increasing the strength of the support frame, mounting the operator's seat protector with greater strength and forming an upper structure of a swivel deck compact.